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After analyzing the needs and solutions for the wastewater problems we have throughout all of Blacksburg, my conclusion is that the best sewer option for all of Blacksburg remains the U.S. 460 Bypass gravity / force main rather than the Toms Creek Basin central trunk gravity / force main.

If the decision to build the $16 million (total of the costs of construction and interest to borrow the funding) central sewer in the basin stands, it will be by far the largest and most expensive undertaking in the history of Blacksburg. Because this decision is so important, for the past year I have searched as many sources as I could find and asked many people to help me understand the issues involved. That's in addition to the hours spent with the Toms Creek Working Group and other efforts over the past five years.

The evidence has consistently supported the less expensive and equally effective U.S. 460 Bypass option.

Like many, maybe most, residents of Blacksburg I have no idea why anyone would favor the cost and disruption of constructing and operating the central trunk gravity / force main sewer lines when such an excellent alternative is available.

The council majority's most frequent justification is that the central trunk gravity / force main lines would serve the whole TCB and that it is good for all of Blacksburg. However, since June 1998, when I was first involved, this project has been downsized. The first iteration did seem to cover most if not all of the TCB. However, the lines have shrunk by eliminating the northernmost area (nearly a fifth of the total land area of the TCB west of the bypass). Another fifth along Prices Fork was never included in this project. In addition, about a fifth of the TCB already has sewer services.

Thus, the portion of the TCB that is not currently served by sewer is around 40 percent of the remaining area of the TCB west of the bypass. It appears that the central sewer could possibly provide new service to about 40 percent of the area west of the bypass at the most.

The next question for me is, "How much of this remaining area would likely be served by the central trunk line?" I requested a map that shows the existing lot lines, the approximate route of the central trunk line, the Toms Creek Basin Creek Overlay (in which building is not permitted) and a 200-foot boundary on each side of the proposed central trunk line. The reason for this boundary was to see how much land was buildable and within 200 feet of the sewer. Some may not know that the town's ordinance requires new construction to hook up to the sewer if, and only if, the dwelling is within 200 feet of the sewer line. There are few places where the 200-foot boundary is not exceeded by the creek overlay.

Visually it is clearly very unlikely that any new construction will be legally required to connect. Undoubtedly, the decision to connect will be based on economics, and the economics do not appear to me to favor connecting. The availability fee is $2,500; add to that the construction costs and it is likely that septic systems will be considerably less expensive.

Then, I wondered how much of the TCB this central trunk gravity / force main would actually serve. The line crosses the creek multiple times - we know there will be at least nine crossings in Phase I. The number of crossings in Phase II is unknown; however, the same logic will apply regardless of the number of crossings.

I requested a map that shows the route of the central trunk, the creek, approximately where the Phase I trunk will cross the creek, and the TCB Creek Overlay. The land that is on the other side of the creek from the central trunk is isolated from connecting to the central trunk unless there is a second pipe built on the opposite side from where the central trunk is built. This access problem will eliminate 50 percent of the land mass that is purportedly served by the central trunk.

My conclusion is that this central gravity / force main trunk line will serve a very small proportion of the TCB not already served by central sewer - perhaps as little as 20 percent, and then only in highly selected areas. Far from being a good project for all of Blacksburg, the proposed central gravity / force main trunk is not even good for all the TCB.

The $16 million debt obligation would be only a down payment on the total costs of providing central trunk access throughout the TCB. It would cost many more millions of dollars to get access on the other sides of the creek as well as hundreds of thousands more to construct the access lines to the central gravity / force main trunk lines. Contracting a debt this large for a benefit so small cannot be justified when a more efficient and cost effective option is available.

Finally, I want to make a comment about STEP / STEG, the so-called alternative sewer service. A STEP / STEG design was developed, but this option was never proposed as a serious alternative. Instead STEP / STEG has been used as a stalking horse to distract discussion of the two genuine alternatives. I believe the only way the central gravity / force main trunk could look attractive was to hang an unreasonable and foolish straw man onto the U.S. 460 Bypass option. This is not a reasonable basis for making a decision.

Let us stick to the real issue of the cost / benefit analysis of the two genuine options before us. It is time we admitted that the TCB central gravity / force main will provide very little additional service in the TCB without massive additional costs.

The real reason we are debating the sewer issue is not to provide sewer service to the Tom's Creek Basin but because of a capacity problem in the North Main line. We do not have sewer-related problems in the TCB, except for the ones we have created during this decision process. One alternative is to build the TCB central gravity / force main trunk line. The other alternative is to build a line along the U.S. 460 Bypass.

These two options use exactly the same technologies - gravity and force main lines. Both alternatives would be built using exactly the same engineering and exactly the same construction practices. They will equally well relieve the North Main capacity problem. Neither will do much more than resolve our real problem of capacity shortage in the North Main line. One will cost around $6 million; one will cost in excess of $16 million.

The decision to build the TCB gravity / force main central trunk lines demands careful and full analysis. Mine leads me to conclude that the cost of the TCB central gravity / force main trunk is high, and its benefits are no greater than the much less expensive U.S. 460 Bypass option.

Sherman is vice mayor of Blacksburg. This is adapted from remarks delivered to town council March 8.